Antiquities of Mexico: Mendoza Codex

Students visited the Library of Virginia Special Collection and observed the nine volumes of Kinsgborough’s The Antiquities of Mexico, paying particular attention to the first three that have the reproduction of 15 Mesoamerican codex. Volume I has the Mendoza Codex or Codex Mendocino and the Matrícula de Tributos, the Telleriano-Remensis Codex, the Boturini Codex, the Selden Codex, the Códice Bodley, and the Selden Roll. Students appreciated the colors and the details present in the drawings, noticing how the Matrícula de tributos food was represented in type and quantity, and paying particular attention to these foods were sent to the Spanish Crown by the conquerors. What follows are descriptions from the students.

This image shows chocolate. European chroniclers discovered chocolate and used it to prepare a tasty drink. For the Mayans, chocolate was worth a lot of money and represented the wealth of a person.

These four images are of maize (corn). Corn serves as a versatile crop that is easy to cultivate. It is also a sustainable crop that was basic for Mesoamerican civilizations. Today, corn still is a basic crop in many cultures. In almost all Latino inspired dishes, maize (corn) is used. It is used by mixing with other vegetables, as a side dish, or is converted into a corn tortilla.

This image is of a fish. Fish serve as an easy way to add nutrition to any diet. There were large amount of fish, and they were easy to cook and include in any meal. Because of their plain taste, fish are often mixed with spices, fruit, and vegetables to give them flavor.

This image is of an onion plant. Onions are full of flavor. They are mixed with beans, tomatoes, and other vegetables because their flavor is so strong. They are common in the food of ancient cultures, and continue to be important. They are not as healthy as other vegetable, however, their flavor makes them a basic ingredient in Latino food.

This image shows another use of corn. Corn was the first totem of the Middle American culture. In this culture, many people used and ate corn. Corn had many uses for all of the people and their social class was not important. After the Mesoamerican culture started to cultivate corn, other cultures started to use it also.

This image represents the jilote. When celebrating the holiday for Xiolen, the members of the community only permitted the use of corn on the cob, tamales, and food with corn. This demonstrates the importance of corn in this culture.

This image shows the chili. The chili is from South America and Middle America. There are many types of chilies: sweet red peppers, spicy jalapeno peppers, and many others, especially in Mexico. There are domestic chilies and wild chilies. Other uses of chilies include natural dyes or the conservation of foods. The chili has many scientific uses as well.

This image shows fishing. Many times, fish were associated with directions (north, south, etc.). The fish in these codices have unique and interesting characteristics. This particular image shows how the people fished with nets.